the Mark
by Some Kind of Bliss
Summary: A novelization, so to speak, about the little scene in the manga which inspires Chibiusa to steal the Crystal. Or is it as little as it seems? Read and find out.


  
  
  
THE MARK  
==  
  
Pre-notes:  
Okay, minna-san, enjoy this. --; I was reading the /Mixx/ translation when I wrote this, but I trust Mixx is pretty good with getting everything down right (unlike SOME translators *coughDICcough*), so it could be counted for as the Japanese, too.  
Anyway, this is just about why Chibiusa (yes, I will use the Japanese names, of course) decided to take the Silver Imperium Moon Crystal in the manga and such. If any minor detail is wrong, don't bother to tell me about it. It really isn't important. If the dialogue isn't exactly the same, don't get a seizure or anything, 'kay? If I did something MAJORLY wrong (which I don't think I did), then you can tell me. Just email me at redix@shinra.org. However, if you want to send me a nice and pretty 'lil fan letter, go ahead. ^^  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"So, what do you think?" Yamada Michiko questioned the girl across from her.  
"Oh, I don't know," Ochiki Tadako replied. "I mean, sure, the evidence matches up, but I wouldn't really think they would just /adopt/ any girl off the street, name her something pretty, then say she's their own. That's not like them." Michiko made a face. "So? You ould be right. That doesn't mean anything, though. I still think my theory's right."  
Tadako rolled her eyes. 'Typical Michiko,' she thought.  
"But why, then, Tada-chan, does she not have the crescent on her forehead?" Michiko continued.  
This question caught Tadako. Michiko was right. It was supposed to be the traditional mark... if Chibiusa was really around 900 years old, then one would think she would've acquired the royal symbol by now...  
"I'm not sure, Michi-chan," Tadako replied quickly, thinking of a witty reply. She wasn't about to lose an argument to Yamada Michiko. "Why don't you find out?"  
This question caught Michiko speechless for a moment. Her eyes unfocused and glazed over, Tadako could tell Michiko was in deep thought. 'She wouldn't take me seriously, would she?' Tadako thought.  
Slowly, and gradually, a smile grew upon the lips of Yamada Michiko. Tadako, Michiko's friend since they were first enrolled in the local Crystal Tokyo school, knew this was not a good sign.  
  
* * * * *   
  
Chibiusa was playing quietly in a small corner of the playground.  
"Now, Luna-P, you be the daughter." For a brief moment, shadows played across the hovering sphere and it almost looked like it was frowning, but in another second every trace of the look was gone and 'Luna-P' settled down on a miniature bench, allowing Chibiusa to tie a dress around her.  
"Okay! ...Chiiko and Riiko can be the twin cousins, and Hiroshi will be the brother. I'll be the mommy, and..." Chibiusa looked around. That was all the dolls she had. Frowning she sat on the bench. "Well, we don't have a daddy." At the moment, once again the sun played tricks, casting shadows at the edges of the dolls' mouths, so that they all mimicked Chibiusa's thoughtful frowning.  
Chibiusa was staring hard at the ground, lost in thought, when she heard a few light steps coming her way. She quickly stood up and stretched her hands, as if to protect her China collectives.  
"Hel/lo/, Tsukino-/chan/," one of the girls sneered. Chibiusa recognized them both as students about a grade higher than her. She only knew the name of the other one, though...  
"We just wanted to ask you something," the second said very quickly.  
"What may that be, Ochiki-san?" Chibiusa said politely, batting her eyelashes, completely ignoring the first girl. From the corner of her eye, she saw that this was working. The other was in fury.  
"/WE/ want to ask you to do /US/ a favor, see," the girl said, gritting her teeth. "But first, /I/ am Yamada Michiko, the most /popular/ girl in my grade!" At this she puffed her chest out, causing Chibiusa to giggle.  
"Anyway, you see..." Tadako started, but Michiko interrupted her.  
"There's this random lady we know she's dying or something, but we'd rather her not."  
Tadako winced at the language Michiko used. She could at least sound convincing; and so revised the phrase.  
"She's our-- /my/, grandmother, and I'd really like her to get better." Tadako paused, searching her mind for the words to continue. Chibiusa, she knew, would not give in easily. "I remember such good times, it's like only yesterday we were-"  
"That's enough," Michiko said, elbowing Tadako. "So, me and Tada-chan want you to use the 'crystal to make her grandmother better."  
A silence followed that. Chibiusa was staring at the ground during the moment of still, and finally she spoke.  
"No," she said, before repeating it. "No." Both Michiko and Tadako blinked. They both knew Chibiusa wasn't one to be easily persuaded, but they had not expected an outright 'no'.  
"W-why not?" Tadako asked, pale. She didn't want to be around Michiko after this little event. "Please, Tsukino-chan?"  
Chibiusa frowned. "No."  
Michiko, no longer stunned by the single-word answer, was furious. "What? What do you mean? You have to! You're the--" She broke off her sentence. A faint smile grew on her lips. Her eyes gleamed.  
"M-m...Michi-chan?" Tadako said. She definitely did not like the expression on Michiko's face, now.  
"Why are we asking you this, anyways?" Michiko said, then turned around. Tadako started to follow.  
"What are you /doing/?" she hissed. Michiko just continued to walk away.  
"Obviously, if you can't use the Moon Crystal, then you're not the Princess." Chibiusa was speechless. Michiko laughed. "You don't even have the mark of the Silver Millennium on your forehead." She then headed back to the school front lawn. Tadako followed her, and before long both of them were out of sight.  
Chibiusa's mouth was dry. Her lips felt like stone. Her tongue was marble. Her teeth were like granite; heavy... or pasted, glued together... she couldn't speak. She couldn't move.  
Maybe Yamada Michiko was right.  
  
* * * * *   
  
As soon as she arrived home that day, Michiko dialed up Tadako.  
There were a few rings, and finally someone picked up.  
"Hello?" It was Tadako's mother.  
"Ah, Ochiki-san, may I speak to Tada-chan?" There was a pause, and then Michiko heard Tadako picking up the phone.  
"Michi-chan," she spoke into the receiver. "I didn't think you'd call so soon." Michiko and Tadako shared the same school bus - both of their houses were pretty far from the school, actually rather near the Crystal Palace, which made their homes, even though small, quite pricey.  
"Well, I have plans," Michiko said as she unzipped her backpack. Tadako sighed from the other side. Ever since Chibiusa had gone and ticked Michiko off, she had been all over getting revenge. That was one of Michiko's bad traits. "Is Toshi-chan home yet?" Tadako broke out of her daze.  
"Hmm?"  
"I asked, is Toshio home yet?" From the other side Michiko could hear a door slam shut.  
"Yup," Tadako said idly, lost in her own thoughts, before the realization struck her. "Nani?... What you want with Toshi-chan?" Michiko, even though Tadako could not see her, shrugged.  
"Just... he might be of use to me," Michiko said, purposely not giving any details away. She loved hearing the suspense and worry within Tadako's voice.  
"Why don't you use that brother of yours," Tadako snapped, and back at her house retreated to her room.  
"I was planning to," Michiko said, stretching the sentence as she yawned. Tadako gave a small 'hrmph' from the other side.  
"Well, I've got homework to do - lots," she noted. "Can you call me back... eh, around six?"  
"Will do," Michiko said then hung up.  
Perhaps it was the fact that Michiko was raised by a single mother, or the fact that her now college freshman brother had always bullied her around, or even just that she had too much time on her hands, but no matter what the reason was, Michiko had always had a knack for corrupting someone's life and feelings, their soul and emotions. Whether she had reason or not did not matter; once she had her mind set on something, nothing could or would change it.  
  
* * * * *   
  
Chibiusa had never considered the fact that she could've been adopted, and of course, there had been other kids to say that, but for some reason when Ochiki-san's friend had suggested it... it seemed so true.  
"Chibiusa-chan," Serenity called as she came down the stairs. "Have you cleaned your room yet?" Chibiusa blinked out of her daze and looked up. What? No hello? No greeting?  
"Uh.. no, Mother, I-"  
"Then get on it, please. We have company, /remember/?"  
The words sounded so harsh when her mother said it. It was somehow all psychological - Chibiusa knew that, but Michiko's words were engraved in her mind, scratched into the stone, imprinted and embedded into her brain, making everything that happened seem a thousand times worse, always revealing the hidden truth - Chibiusa wasn't the real Princess. She knew she couldn't be. She didn't have the mark.  
When Chibiusa looked up again, she noticed her mother was gone. She glanced at the large grandfather clock. Ten minutes since she arrived at the palace. Had she been idling that long? She started her way up the stairs, her shoes clicking against the marble steps.  
She was halfway to her room when she heard the second voice.  
"Small Lady," Endymion's voice carried from one of the many rooms within the hall. Chibiusa then saw her father exit her private quarters. "Ah, Chibiusa-chan," her father said. Where was his grin? All she saw in the dimly light hallway was a frown on her sire's mouth."Yes, papa?" Chibiusa's voice was shaky, or it seemed to her, but she didn't know if her father noticed that or not.  
"Chibiusa, your room's still a mess," Endymion scolded, getting sidetracked from his original objective. "Didn't your mother tell you to clean it?" Chibiusa frowned deeply.  
"But, papa-chan, I just..."  
"Please, clean it up, and hurry, Small Lady. Rei-chan and Mako- chan will be over any moment." Sighing, he hurried down the hall.  
'What was it I came here for?' he thought as he exited the corridor, a small corner of his mind prodding him to complete his task, but he could not remember what it was.  
  
* * * * *   
  
One hour later...  
Chibiusa ran down the corridor of the Palace. She didn't care where she was going.  
Why didn't her parents greet her like they usually did? Why hadn't she known ahead of time that Rei and Makoto-san were coming over?   
Had they forgotten? 'They have never forgotten before,' a voice inside her said. Maybe they were too busy? The voice denied that, too. Tears pressing, Chibiusa raced down a long hallway. Where was she? She had never seen this part of the palace before. Had her parents hid this, too, from her? For how long?  
Her pout grew, and she felt tears trickling down her cheeks. What was the matter with her? It was a combined anguish of everything that had happened... all the memories of taunting and torture grew alive again in her mind. People sneering and laughing and pointing; distorted images of her parents were all she could see...  
Chibiusa faced the fact that she couldn't answer her own questions, and amidst her sobs, flung herself in front of a large dark- wooded door. Curiously, her sadness fading, she placed a light finger on the door. It opened with ease. Fascinated, Chibiusa stepped through the doors. Where was she? This place seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it...  
  
* * * * *   
  
"You look just like the Queen."  
The words echoed in Chibiusa's mind, bouncing off walls as if they were reflections of a mirror, continuing to ping and repeat, the words beating themselves into Chibiusa's head until they were engraved in her very soul, never to be ever forgotten...  
'A lie,' a voice told her. The voice. It had an adult touch to it.. before, Chibiusa had seen the source of the voice. A beautiful young lady who looked like Chibiusa, but older. Yet, she couldn't remember where she had seen it. It was on paper... in a book? Ami-san's computer? She remembered, when she had first seen it, it had been like looking into a mirror... it frightened her then and haunted her now.  
"You... you mean it?" Chibiusa asked the strange lady in front of her now. She looked like a legendary Senshi, but there were still some changes in her uniform.  
The women just smiled and nodded.  
She was the first person to say that, other than Chibiusa's Papa and Mama.  
"You will be a very beautiful lady."  
Now Chibiusa blushed a bit. 'Who is she to say that?' a voice - no, /the/ Voice - screamed at Chibiusa from inside, but Chibiusa continued to ignore it. Pink devil, she thought to herself.  
"My name is Sailorpluto," the lady finally said after a long pause, then gestured to the door through which Chibiusa had entered. "I am the guardian of this door." She smiled, again. Chibiusa suddenly didn't feel so comfortable around this Sailorpluto for some reason. "I am pleased to meet you, Small Lady." Now Chibiusa nearly gasped.  
"You know me?" Chibiusa was astonished. Well, she might've been a Princess, but still... no hermit locked behind some door in a mist had any right to know who Chibiusa was - much less call her Small Lady. Only her Papa, and sometimes her Mama, did that.  
"The only ones who can come to this place, are those of the Silver Millennium." Chibiusa could not believe Pluto's words. Was that the truth? But Chibiusa had no symbol... and everyone else said she wasn't. Could one person versus all those hateful others still be a fair match? Chibiusa wasn't about to bet any money on it.  
Pluto could tell Chibiusa was down in her spirits. But was Chibiusa supposed to be here at all? So the dream had said, but ever since the Silver Millennium, Pluto's memory had been a bit shallow on remembering what was allowed and not...  
"When you feel sad, say 'Abracadabra'. It's a charm to make you feel better." Grinning, Pluto demonstrated for the awe-struck girl. "Poof!" she exclaimed. Chibiusa blinked, and her Luna-P ball started twitching. Suddenly it popped out of her hands and burst into flowers and confetti, showering the dull grey clearing with bright colors.  
"Wow!" Chibiusa exclaimed. "Gomen!" she said, then did a little curtsey. As she bowed down, however, something caught her eye. A flash of wine red...  
"What's that, Pluto?" Chibiusa asked, referring to the large scepter Pluto was holding. Pluto grinned.  
"This is my Garnet Rod," the Senshi replied.  
"Mama has a pretty scepter, too," Chibiusa said, gazing at the jewel perched upon the rod, forgetting her previous anger and depression. "She uses the Moon Scepter to control the Silver Imperium Crystal," Chibiusa continued, "and make miracles." At this, she became quiet, and looked towards the ground, as if ashamed of something. Pluto grinned.  
"That will one day be your duty," she said. Chibiusa looked up at Pluto with one eye. Then, Chibiusa felt reassured. She trusted Pluto. She trusted everything she said, too. Which is why suddenly she felt her heart fly into Heaven, spiraling upwards through clouds, beating joy and ecstasy into Chibiusa with every great thrust of its wings; a leap higher into the endless blue. "You are the Queen's daughter."  
  
* * * * *   
  
'Sailormoon never lost to anybody, Papa. Why?'  
'Because she had a strong heart, and wonderful friends, and invincible power.'  
'I don't have any power, even though I'm Mama's daughter...'  
'Small Lady, the Queen was once a crybaby, too.'  
They had all made fun of her before. 'She doesn't have the mark of the Silver Millennium on her forehead. She never grows up. She hardly looks like the Queen. Why doesn't she fight back?'  
Chibiusa never saw her mother any more. The life of a Royalty wasn't as it was made out to be... Chibiusa was at least happy her mother had tried to give her a normal life... Ah, that conversation not too long ago...  
'Small Lady, my darling daughter. I gave you that name. Someday you will become, a graceful young lady.'  
But it didn't matter any more - her mother could call her beautiful, but she was always going to be ugly. Her father could say she'd grow out of her immaturity, but she'd always be a crybaby. Her peers could laugh at her, but she knew the truth. Pluto had said it. Pluto had smiled... Chibiusa could tell she had never smiled much before. Yet, she had smiled for Chibiusa. And given her a present...A small key.  
'To the fourth dimension,' Pluto had said, but Chibiusa wasn't quite sure what she had meant.  
  
* * * * *   
  
Yamada Michiko snickered softly as she saw a familiar pink-haired girl walking towards the school. Reaching a hand down to ruffle her brother's hair, Michiko whispered, "Go get Toshi-chan, Yoshio." The boy nodded and ran off. Michiko grinned and leaned over onto a nearby tree.  
Yoshio and Toshio came back to Michiko, quickly, with Tadako guiding them.  
"I still don't think you should do this," Tadako muttered, and then gave the boys a little push down the hill. "Hurry up, now. The quicker the better." Both boys just snickered and ran down the slope which Chibiusa was coming up.  
"Let's go hide," Michiko told Tadako, and gestured to a space between a bush and tree. "We can still see from there, and Chibiusa-chan won't get suspicious by seeing us." Tadako sighed, and nodded her head in feeble agreement. She didn't have much of a choice to argue or not.  
  
* * * * *   
  
Yoshio and Toshio stumbled down the hill towards Chibiusa, their shoes creating a patter along the way down. Dirt and dust drifted across the dry path, a mist in sorts.  
"Hey! Chibiusa-chan!" Toshio called, coming to a halt in front of the 'fore mentioned girl. She merely lifted her red eyes upon the two boys.  
"We wanted to, eh, discuss some thing with you," Yoshio said to Chibiusa, walking towards her, ever so slowly. The girl, in silent reply, only kept walking at her same pace, right past the two boys.  
"Whatever," was her only /spoken/ reply. The majority of her response still lied within her body movements and signs as she continued up the hill. Yoshio cursed slightly. Toshio started to run after the pink-haired schoolmate.  
"No! Please! Wait up! It's... important," Toshio stammered. Any kind of excuse to get Chibiusa to stop and listen. If not, then he knew Michiko wouldn't be in the best of moods. Luckily, for him, Chibiusa stopped.  
"What."  
Toshio breathed a slight sigh of relief. Yoshio sped ahead.  
"Listen up, everyone's saying you're not really the Queen's child." That was Yoshio.  
Chibiusa bit her lip. She couldn't deal with it anymore. But she had to. A whirlwind of dust and hair flew before her eyes, stinging with tears, as she spun around to face the boys.  
"That's not true!" she protested, unable to hold back the tears. "I'm Mama and Papa's girl!"  
  
* * * * *   
  
From her hideout behind the brush, Michiko bit her lip to control her laughing. It was all too perfect.  
Tadako just stared in horror.  
"But she never makes a fuss over you, does she?" The faint voice was carried by a light, sun-touched breeze. The words floated towards Tadako, piercing her ears with every cold word. Yoshio was pushing it. Tadako didn't expect it to carry this far. She could barely make out her brother's form, however, slowly backing away. At least he was sensible.  
Chibiusa bit her lip visibly.  
"Mama's busy," the soft reply was, whether damped by tears or the distance between Tadako and Michiko and Chibiusa.  
"If you were the Princess, then you could use the Silver Imperium Crystal." Tadako wanted to cover her ears as Yoshio spat out the words. She knew what this was leading to. She had known it all along.  
  
* * * * *   
  
"You've never even seen the Silver Imperium Crystal."  
The words stung. They dug into her skin and bit, nibbled at her heart and made the blood stop and run again, made everything sting - especially her eyes, as the tears began to run down her cheeks.  
"I'll show you!" she said in protest, turning to look at the distant Crystal Palace, mists giving only the silhouette of the giant spires against the horizon.  
Yoshio only continued to prod further into Chibiusa's hurt.  
"If she won't show it to you, then you're definitely a fake princess!"  
"I know where it is."  
Then Chibiusa ran off.  
Doom awaited in the shadows.  
  
* * * * *   
  
The Crystal was the center of... everything.  
Where there was Dark, the Crystal gave Light.  
Where there was Death, the Crystal gave Life.  
Where there was Black, the Crystal gave White.  
Where there was Blood taken, the Crystal gave Blood back.  
Where there was God, there was the Crystal.  
The Crystal was the God. The Goddess.  
It... was It.  
  
* * * * *   
  
The Silver Imperium Crystal glowed from its place, settled beneath the glass globe. It was protected by an aura only bendable and broken by those of the Silver Millennium Blood.  
This was devised to keep the Crystal safe from the harm of intruders.  
But intruders don't always look evil.  
Even without the Mark, Chibiusa was still one of the Blood.  
She still had the power.  
She was a key. Like the shiny key Pluto had given her.  
Chibiusa laid her eyes on the sphere in which the Crystal rested, only but a single tear making a pale trail down her face.  
"She didn't ever show it to me..."  
Luna-P hovered - almost hesitantly, if it were possible - beside Chibiusa, giving out only faint clicks and chirps, whirls and beeps.  
Chibiusa threw her glance in both directions, before taking her floating cat and smashing the glass globe about the Crystal with it. Then, slowly, she took the Crystal up from its place.  
It felt extremely light in her hands - only the slightest bit of weight, and it wasn't like Chibiusa was really holding it. It was /floating/ in her hands. Just breathing the air mixed with the Crystal's majestic, pure aura was thrilling - she felt.. high? That's what people had always called it.  
"Luna-P... this is incredible," she said - whispered! - to the only other floating object in the room. She knew its only response would be a twirl or whistle, but that didn't bother her, and it always helped to talk to things. "I have to.. I can't /believe/ Mama never showed it to me." Her brows furrowed, deep in thought. "Maybe I'm not her child, after all..."  
Then there was the click of steps in the hallway. Gasping, Chibiusa made a run for it. She slipped out a back entrance, on the other side of a large pillar. Without thinking, she had taken the Crystal with her.  
  
* * * * *   
  
"Endymion!" the Queen of Crystal Tokyo gave a desperate shout, running up the large collection of stairs within the palace, tripping and collapsing into them at the top. "Oh, Endymion! The Crystal, it's gone!" She gave a sudden, if also unexpected, sob, more than a few tears streaming down her face.  
"Calm down," Endymion said in a soothing voice, guiding his lawfully wedded wife down the stairs. "Tell me about it?"  
"It was.. I went into the room, I had felt a surge of powers. But then.. it was broken! The glass was broken, and the Crystal was gone, and so is Chibiusa!"  
"Chibiusa!" Endymion said, partially in surprise, partially calling out his daughter's name. "Do you think..."  
"Oh, no! They couldn't have taken her with them!" She gasped, suddenly realizing that it was all too possible.  
"No, I mean--"  
"Right! I have to go look for her!" Serenity made a mad dash down the stairs, flailing down the hall, calling out her daughter's name.  
"No! Serenity!" he called, but it was too late. Sighing, he took the rest of the steps down, and turned into an all too familiar hall of the many about the palace. He hoped she wasn't just playing another demented hide and seek game.  
  
* * * * *   
  
"Look what I did, Luna-P, look what I did."  
  
* * * * *   
  
Tadako walked home, deep in thought.  
What they had done at school today was not right. Now she felt guilty all over, and whenever she heard Michiko's stupid laughing at Chibiusa's reaction... she felt like she could just scream and pull that girl's hair out. But she'd try to maintain her cool.  
It was just.. they were so cruel! How could they've done that to such an innocent little girl? Who knows what would happen if she told her parents! Serenity forbid that! Well, not Serenity, but... any other god-like equivalent.  
She just felt too bad about it. She needed to do something good. Make dinner for the family. Bake a cake for the people at the senior citizen home. Take Toshio to the park. Let's see, which would be easiest to do first... ah, yes. Take Toshio to the park.  
She was glad her mother had let her walk home today. She wouldn't've been able to stand a moment longer being around Michiko.  
Toshio, being let out earlier than her, was already home and starting to don his old tennis shoes.  
"Hey, Toshi-chan," she said, gaining his attention. "Why don't we go out to the park, today?"  
"I was just going to," he said, rolling his eyes. Tadako smirked.  
"No, I'm talking about the Crystal Tokyo Central Park. You know Mama-chan doesn't let you go alone."  
Toshio blinked. "Nani--... you'd take /me/? Are you sure you aren't feeling sick?" He said sarcastically, scowling.  
Tadako gave a sweet laugh. "Yes, I'm sure. Just let me put my books up and I can take you."  
It was a beautiful day out - a wonderful one for everything Tadako had planned. Yes, she'd definitely be able to forget her cruelties via the plan she had to keep herself busy. She might even make a gift for Chibiusa to say that she and Toshio were sorry - a 'please forgive me' type of thing.  
Once the stepped past the large gates that served as the entrance into the Crystal Tokyo Central Park, Toshio removed his shoes and slipped on his roller blades, skating off. Yes, today would be a new start for Tadako. She would change her ways - her life! She would stop being friends with Michiko, she would find somebody new. Without anybody to bounce her ideas off of, maybe even Michiko would change from her... evil ways. But Tadako doubted that. All this time she had just been mixed up with the wrong person.  
Yes, it was a bright, beautiful new day. Things would change. Something big was about to happen to her, and she could feel it.  
She just felt so.. cleansed! She was in Heaven, it seemed, or the top of the world, because she had figured out this new key to getting better. Of course, there was the probability that by the time she got back home from the Park with Toshio, she would probably be too tired to complete any of her self-assigned tasks, but she figured if she had as much pure work-energy as she felt she did--  
There was a sudden crash.  
"What the..? Toshio!" In the distance, a brilliant light was racing towards them. Toshio was flailing his arms, and in seconds he was... gone. "No!" Tadako screamed a thousand times over, racing towards the limp and slowly fading body. "Why--"  
Her voice was cut short as the light invaded her body.  
  
* * * * *   
  
Serenity ran out into the open. She knew she was unprotected, but Chibiusa was worse off. She heard a distant crying - a child whose shadow against horizon looked all too much like Chibiusa.  
"Chibiusa!" She ran towards the child. "Oh! My Small Lady!"  
She heard the child's cry turn into a raspy squeak, and she looked up into the evil eyes of the Prince.  
"Enchanted to meet you, at long last, my dear Serenity. I have awaited this moment for centuries past my time."  
The Queen of Crystal Tokyo glared at him with contempt, as if he were not even human, rejecting him. "How dare you..." she managed, before a sudden power overwhelmed the both of them, and the Queen was once again swallowed by the impenetrable castle.  
  
* * * * *   
  
It's all my fault, Chibiusa thought, amidst her terrible sobs.  
If I hadn't taken the Silver Imperium Crystal, Mama would be...  
She gave another hard sniff, trying to wipe away her tears, but it just wouldn't work. They kept coming.  
She had seen it - she had heard her mother's cries, and ran out after her, but by then it was entirely too late to do anything. She felt evil - no, she didn't. For the first time, she realized, it wasn't /her/ that was evil. It was the Crystal.  
The Crystal started it all - the Crystal that was too precious for her mother to show to her so that she had to let her curiosity get the best of her and now her mother was.. gone.. all because of her. No! Not her! The /Crystal/!  
...Who was that hero who Papa had told her about so many times before?  
Ah! Sailormoon!  
She was beautiful; the heroine of the past. Hadn't Papa said something about her having a Silver Imperium Crystal?  
Resting deftly in her hand - no longer floating, or glowing - was the Crystal of the Present Time. She frowned. What had she done to it? Maybe if she could go into the past.. maybe Sailormoon could help..  
"To the past!" She told Luna-P, bravely, then darted off in the direction of the Sacred Hallway, Luna-P hurrying to in a float-scurry behind her. Pluto would be able to help.  
  
* * * * *   
  
"I'm so scared," Michiko said from the shelter she and a few other families had found refuge in with survivors after the blast. "I just... I don't know why we deserve this pain," she said, sobbing. "Oh, mother, I'm hungry... I haven't had anything to eat since lunch... can't you make something? I'm starving! I'm starving! I'm star--"  
Yamada-san slapped Michiko hard across the face. "Shut up!" the mother spat, and turn back to scanning over the underground shelter. Michiko burst into sobs, burying her head in a rag of a potato sack.  
"Why me?" she sobbed. "Why do I have to be the one trapped in an underground cellar with nothing to eat?" She continued to burst into occasional sobs, sobbing herself into a deep sleep.  
  
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THANK YOU'S:  
  
Yo. Lo'. Okay. ^^; First, I want to say: I started this fic in February. Today, it is finished, at 06/15/01. That's June. I've worked on this four months, near exact. I'm so sorry for anyone who I let get their hopes up by saying I would have this out in a flash, or saying that'd I'd let them preread, but my mail program is weird and so I really don't like having to email about prereading and stuff. I only work for my fan-stuff. Riight. o.O; Anyhow. Loren preread this, as she did "Held His Rose", and so much thanks to Loren and everyone else who offered to preread for me. I was really surprised at how much feedback I got from my first fic, so I hope I get a good turnout for this one.  
Yeah. Either way, please review, or something, via email or some other method. It took a really long time to finish, so I hope its worth it for you all. Right now, I'm dead tired, and its taken forever to write this thing, so I may not be coming out with anything soon for a while, but I'll more than likely make a sequel to this lil' dramatization sooner or later, this time focusing on Chibiusa running away and becoming Black Lady and all. Right. Anyhow, thank you to everyone!  
Baii, now.  
  
Eriosu  
  
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SECOND UPDATE -- 09/03/2001 :  
  
This is Elios. I just finished updating this piece of fanfiction... I read through it and found lots of typo's, and so I fixed as many typos and grammatical errors as possible that I could find, then added some new parts, delete some old parts, and rearranged some parts to better fit the actual Sailormoon time sequence.  
Anyhow. I think this is by far my favorite Sailormoon fic of mine. ^^ Of course, compared to Held His Rose, I'm sure it's anyone's.. but, still.. :P I like this one. It may be sort of corny in some parts, but, remember! The majority of this is quoted from the Naoko Takeuchi manga!  
So, ha! ..or, something. ^^;;  
  
Elios 


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